


Diplomacy with Giants

by Shabby Abby (KJPearl)



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Gen, Giants, Golden Age (Narnia), Wolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 04:36:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2335574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KJPearl/pseuds/Shabby%20Abby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Narnian rulers hear about giants killing their subjects Susan and Lucy must go investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diplomacy with Giants

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenfalling/gifts).



Early in spring, a year into the rule of the Pevensie siblings, Narnia felt gloomy. Snow and ice had melted off trees which had yet to regain their leaves. There was neither shining snow nor bright plants in the gardens and the world was colored a bland brown. Queen Susan was looking over the castle’s expenses. Her guard, a Dog named Rufus, rested by her feet, keeping an eye on the door. Their solitude was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Enter,” said Susan as Rufus rose. Mr. Tumnus entered, followed by a large wolf.

“Introducing Lady Alina, head of the Whitefleet Wolf Pack,” the faun’s voice shook slightly. He had not forgotten the horrors the wolves had done under the White Witch’s rule, “She has come to request assistance from the Crown in order to repel the Ettin Giants of the North.”

“Welcome,” Susan addressed wolf, “What complaint do you lodge against the giants?”

“The murder and eating of talking Animals,” she replied.

“This is a very serious accusation. Do you have any evidence?”

“Our pups are vanishing!” the wolf snarled, “What more do you want!”

Rufus growled at her, “You will respect the queen!”

“Rufus, please,” Susan interrupted, “I must discuss this with my siblings. You may stay in the palace until we organize a delegation. Mr. Tumnus please show her to the guest rooms and summon my siblings.”

The two left and Susan put away her work. She was far too distracted to focus on it now. She was unsure of the wisdom of accepting the proposal and visiting the wolves.  If Lady Alina’s accusations were true they warranted royal involvement, in fact, at least one of the Pevensie should accompany the delegation. But it could also be a trap. Many wolves wanted to avenge Jadis by killing the new rulers.

“Mr. Tumnus said you needed us. What happened?” Peter’s voice startled her out of her gloomy thoughts. Susan looked up to see her siblings standing around her desk. She hadn’t even noticed their entry.

Edmund, perceptive as always, noticed her nerves, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, just worrying. We’ve been invited to Whitefleet Forest by Lady Alina, she claims they are being attacked and eaten by giants. It seems they want to ally with us, which would lead to peace. But I’m worried, they were the witch’s closest guards.”

 “They said the witch forced them,” Lucy pointed out.

“People lie,” Peter said.

“But this pack hasn’t attacked us. The ones truly loyal to the witch turned on us when we were fighting the ghouls up north, but the Whitefleet Pack left us alone. And they encouraged the others not to fight. Jadis was good at lying and enchanting people. I would know. She looks right into you and sees what you want. Tells you, you can have it, but only from her. She steals hope and replaces it with fear. But crimes from the Jadis’ times have already been judged. Our problem is that they would want us to go along with whatever fighters we send,” Edmund said.

“Exactly, Lady Alina was furious. Simply asking for evidence of the attack had her yelling.”

“If her accusations are true she has good reason to be angry and we must help her fights. Our help may gain further support from the wolves. Remember that when they abstained from the fighting in the north many other packs followed suit. An alliance with them would influence half the wolf population.”

“Their request could still be a trap,” Susan said, “We know that many people in the north loved Jadis. And now that she is gone we’ve exiled them to the Wild Lands of the North with the giants. Even if it’s true about the murder, the wolves may blame us. If we go, they could use our army against the giants then take revenge after.”

“We have to give them a chance,” Lucy declared, “They are our citizens and we must help them. That is our duty. Our crowns are our oath of protection to the beings in Narnia. If we do our duty by Aslan He will protect us.”

Susan winced at Lucy’s blind faith, unfortunately and the girl noticed, “Stop acting like you’re so grown up Susan. I may be eleven but even you can’t deny Aslan is here. Not when we’ve seen him with our own eyes.”

“Of course he’s real, Lucy,” Susan placated, “But he’s not a tame lion. We can’t rely on him to get us out of trouble every time it arrives. We need to learn how to rule carefully, protecting ourselves and our citizens.”

“The wolves are our citizens. That’s what happened when we defeated the witch. We decided we would help rebuild Narnia, by supporting and reforming every being in it. Even wolves.”

“Lu’s right,” Peter said, “We should be careful in case there is trap but that doesn’t exempt us from needing to send people to check, and protect the wolves if they are being killed.”

“But who?” Edmund questioned.

“Me and Susan,” Lucy said, “We need Susan in order to negotiate with the Whitefleet Pack. And I’m the second best warrior after Peter, who needs to stay for when the Galman politicians arrive, since they’ve apparently decided they will only listen to the ‘true king’.”

“Who can we bring with?” Edmund said, “Half of the tiny army we’ve managed to build is busy defending settlements. And we can’t send the rest away, or the Galmans will never take us seriously.”

“If we leave the big animals like wild cats, dogs, and bears here, we can make an impression on the politicians. Lucy and I will bring the smaller and faster animals, those will be better in the kind of sneak-attacks we’ll need to fight the giants, if negotiation fails.”

“Alright, that’s settled than,” said Peter, “I’ll tell Mr. Tumnus to alert Lady Alina and the soldiers. We’ll be leaving in two days.”

Two days later saw a small group leaving Cair Paravel. They traveled silently and speedily, some by foot and some on steeds, until the sun sank low in the sky. In dull orange light they sent up camp on a grassy plane and ate by firelight.

“Lady Alina, tell me about yourself. What’s it like up north?” Lucy asked.

“Cold,” the wolf said, “Barren and full of monsters more terrible than nightmares. The kind that use magic for evil and eat children.”

“So your old friends,” muttered a Cat.

“Say that to my face!” Alina snarled, abandoning her meal to glare.

“Fine. Your old friends, from when you worked with the witch! You deserve them! After the pain you caused us. After the children you took. This is no more than justice!”

“You know nothing of what the witch did to us! When she first descended from the far north, and arrived at our dens. When she turned our children to stone and threatened to break their bodies if we disobeyed. Where was Narnia then? When we had need?” her eyes shone and her body shook.

“Are you saying the witch kept you enslaved for generations with that?” Susan gasped, “Why did we never hear of this?”

“Each generation she’d take a cub from the family of the pack leader, and add them to the group, so it was your child or sibling at risk. They took my little brother, Felix and we all knew they were coming for my children soon. But, you didn’t care to hear. Much too busy exiling people and rebuilding a perfect peaceful kingdom, you were. There wasn’t time to hear about the wolves.”

“Alina, I’m so sorry,” Lucy said, “We won’t let this happen again. That’s why we’re here now. To stop the giants. To help you, like you deserve, like you have always deserved.”

“Thank you milady.” Silence fell upon the party as they prepared to sleep. The first shift sentries went to their positions and everyone else headed to their tents.

The next morning they woke quickly and continued their journey, until by mid-morning they reached trees that marked the edge of Whitefleet Pack territory.

“Mama!” an excited pup yelled, running out of the forest towards them.

“Hush, Brutus,” Alina said, “We have guests, royal guests.”

The child looked up at the queens he had just noticed astride their horses and puffed out his chest, “Greetings you majesties, welcome to Whitefleet forest.”

“Hello, Brutus,” Lucy smiled, “Thank you for your hospitality.”

They entered the forest and the Narnians started to feel eyes following them from behind the trees. Sometimes, they would glimpse the sentry wolves from behind foliage, but more often they would not. They heard the town before they saw it, a system of caves around which the village had been built served as town hall while individual homes ranged from empty patches of earth to elaborate stick structures. As the procession reached the town people began to turn towards them. Conversations halted, turning from idle chatter to pointed gossip.

“Wolves of Whitefleet,” Lady Alina declared, silencing the pack, “As you know, I went to the palace the request assistance in fighting the Ettin Giants. I return with our queens and their army. Tonight we shall feast!” A cheer spread through the crowd and Alina lead Susan and Lucy out of town, while the army went to set up its tents along the outskirts.

Alina brought them to an area, several miles north of the village. There was a huge scorch on the ground, the type a giant’s cooking fire would leave. They traveled further, through the area where giants had once camped, until they found the trash midden. In the pile lay bones, almost but not quite, stripped of flesh, the bones of a small wolf.

“You wanted proof?” Alina said. Susan could not find it in her to take offense at the wolf’s hostile tone. Not when she saw the dead body of a Narnian child. Not when she had failed in her duty of preventing their deaths.

“I’m so sorry,” Susan said. Deep within her she strengthened her resolve to stop the giants hunting in Narnia without risking Narnian lives. She would find a way, some way, to end this in peace. She did not even care about revenge. She just needed to prevent further death.

“Your apologies mean nothing,” Alina said, “We need actions. The fact that you are here to help is the first step.”

Lucy felt tears in her eyes, “We will get rid of them. In Aslan’s name.”

Somberly, they returned to town hall. Lady Alina directed the queens through the hall until they reached the war room. On the room’s floor was a map of the region. Whitefleet Forest could be seen as a small wood just south of the River Shribble.  To the east lay the Marsh, further up was the mountainous area where the giants lived. This area contained a few fortresses, but was mostly empty. Warnings were written upon the map. Phrases like, ‘Nomadic Giant camp here’ or ‘hag spell ground’, littered the area.

“Our threat is coming from the Harfang Clan. It’s rumoured they are descendants of Jadis, because even giants don’t eat talking Animals. Only these ones. They’re part of the Ettin Council that meets along the Gorge,” she pointed to a region just north of the Marsh, “All the Ettins live around there.  The Harfang Clan lives here,” she pointed west of the gorge, separated from Whitefleet by the tiny river, “they cross the Shribble and ‘hunt’ here.”

“So we really just need to deal with the Harfang tribe. Can we not address our complaint to the Ettin Council? They are the rulers of the giants,” Susan said.

“They do nothing,” Lady Alina said, “We attempted diplomacy before calling you. They will not ‘disrupt the council peace’.”

“If we went as queens of Narnia threatening war, they may not be so neutral.”

“True, but they could just try to attack us,” Lucy said.

“It’s unlikely, your majesty. They may have grown foolish during the witch’s reign but even they remember the power of a Narnian monarch with Aslan’s blessing,” Alina said.

“We will go confront the Ettin Council tomorrow,” Susan declared, “Explain how seriously we take their actions. Let them know exactly how far we’ll go to enforce that.”

“And if they don’t listen?” Lucy asked, “Then what shall we do?”

“Then we will fight.” They ladies spent hours planning the meeting with the council. They wrote out a treaty with their conditions and worried over their back-up strategies until a young wolf came to bring them to dinner.

They entered the main hall, a spacious cavern with a wide, low table. The room was crowded having both the usual wolves and the royal army filling it. Once Alina entered and took her place at the head of the table, with Susan on her right and Lucy on her left, people began to eat.

Spek, a Bird general flew to Susan’s shoulder, “What is our plan?”

“Tomorrow morning we head to the Ettins' Gorge. Lucy and I will speak to them, accompanied by Lady Alina and two of her guards-”

“By yourselves? That is madness.”

“If you would allow me to finish. Meanwhile, the army and those wolves not needed to protect the village will stay close behind, hiding in the mountainous land. We will lure the giants into a feeling of security. Hopefully that is all we need and diplomacy will do the rest. However, if they do attack we’ll be prepared.”

“I see. Very wise, of course, very wise.”

“Thank you, Spek. I trust you will relay the plan to our troops tonight at camp?”

“You can count on me,” he flew off, to continue dinner.

Meanwhile Lucy was busy getting to know the wolves, “Is you brother here, Alina?”

“Yes, over there,” she pointed with her snout. Near the center of the table on Susan’s side was a young wolf. He ate quietly, keeping to himself. His eyes met Lucy’s for a moment than quickly darted away.

“He seems quite sweet,” Lucy said.

“Shy, you mean. He always has been. Even before the witch took him he was always such a scholar, head in the clouds more than in Narnia,” her eyes sparkled with pride.

“You care for him very much.”

“He’s my little brother. It’s my job to protect him. More so now that he’s so much littler. But it’s difficult, I can tell he’s not interested here. The town is small and we don’t have many books. He’s learnt all we can teach.”

“Cair Pavel has an enormous library which needs a librarian to categorize it. We have many texts from before the witch’s reign, still well preserved. He could look through whatever books he wanted there.”

“Truly? That would be a great gift. I’m sure he would love it.”

When dinner ended the queens went to the rooms they had been given. They changed into nightclothes and lay on the lavish quilts. The torches were out and it was late into the night, but neither could find sleep.

“Lucy,” Susan whispered, “Are you awake?”

“Yes. I could hardly fall asleep now. I’m so excited for tomorrow. We haven’t done anything interesting since Jadis died.”

“Interesting? By which you mean fighting, I suppose!”

“Susan, you know that’s not what I-”

“Honestly, Lucy, do you ever stop to think. People die in war. It’s not interesting, it’s terrible. I pray we don’t need to resort to that!”

“Oh now you pray! I though we weren’t relying on Aslan because he’s ‘not a tame lion’. Or is that just when I suggest it?”

“There’s a difference between praying Aslan helps your plan succeed and walking blindly into a situation. You know that!”

“I do. Sorry, Su. I’m just so nervous.”

“Me too. It’s strange to know that people are depending on you. You could tell them to risk their lives and they would do it. It’s utterly nerve-wracking, no wonder we’re fighting.”

“Whatever happens tomorrow. I do know Aslan will guide us. He didn’t bring us here to fail.”

“I know. I don’t thank you enough, but your faith helps the rest of us stay strong.”

“Goodnight, Susan.”

“Goodnight.”

The next day at around noon. A small party arrived at the gorge. Lady Alina and her wolves wore the medals that befit their rank, but they were outshined by the figures that followed them. Susan wore pale blue robes and a silver circlet. At her hip was her horn, and on her back she carried her bow and arrows. She stood unyielding and proud, Narnia’s gentle queen prepared for battle. Lucy wore bright red with a gold circlet and a wide smile. At her throat she kept her cordial and she kept both sword and dagger at her waist.

Lady Alina spoke first, “Queen Susan the Gentle and Queen Lucy the Valiant come before the Ettin Council to lodge a complaint against the Harfang Giant Clan.”

The Giant nearest them responded, “The Council recognises the Queens.”

“I am before you today,” Susan said, “to report crimes of a most hideous nature. The likes of which are not tolerated by Narnia. They are accused of kidnapping, killing and eating the pups of the Whitefleet Wolf Pack. Do you deny it?”

The Harfang representative spoke. She had downturned lips and an upturned nose, her face was full of haughty cruelness, “Of course not. Wolves are wolves, who cares if they speak? They are animals. Meant to be eaten.”

“The hunting of talking Animals is considered reprehensible by the Crown and is grounds for war. However, we are willing to leave them in peace on one condition. They must travel north and leave alone the Narnian realm and her citizens. If a single Harfang Giant is found within Narnia they may be killed on sight.”

 “Why? Why should we obey your laws we are Ettins, governed by our own council. We are larger than you, and stronger than you. We can do as we please, and you have no power to stop us.”

“If you do not agree to our terms,” Susan said, “we shall not show mercy. We will declare war.”

“War? You’ll fight us,” she giggled, “You and what army?”

“We are Queens of Narnia. We have the legions of Narnia,” Lucy said, “For Aslan!”

Susan blew her horn and the hidden troops yelled “For Aslan!” Their voices echoed through the canyon. The noise filled the area, reverberating as if hundreds surrounded it. The Giants looked to one another quickly before the first Giant spoke again, “The Ettin Council accepts the Narnian Queens decision.”

Susan approached with the treaty. It was a large scroll, big enough for a Giant to read. Every Council member except the Harfang representative quickly signed it, hoping to hasten the Narnian army’s departure. Finally they faced the Harfang representative, “You are no longer wanted here. Go tell your clan you are exiled. Travel north, away from Narnia and the Ettin lands, you will find no sympathy here.”

She left, with a furious expression upon her large face, and Susan knew this was only the beginning of Narnia’s dealings with the Harfang Clan. But for now, in this brief battle, they had won without any bloodshed. So she turned to Lucy with a smile and thanked Aslan with every ounce of her being.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 3  
> Characters: Lucy Pevensie, Susan Pevensie  
> Relationship: Lucy Pevensie & Susan Pevensie  
> Category: Gen  
> Additional Tags: Golden Age (Narnia)  
> Susan and Lucy have an unexpected adventure, including two or more of the following elements: Ambushes! Captures! Daring escapes and rescues! Disguises, deceit, and diplomacy! Cunning plans! Expressions of love, faith, and trust in each other! Doomed last stands! Happy endings!  
> Basically, you know those epic brotherly devotion/adventure fics about Peter and Edmund? Write me one of those, but with Susan and Lucy instead. I think the Narnian world is the most logical setting for such a story, but if you can find a way to play out something from that genre in England, that would be awesome too.
> 
> Thanks to my BETA Kate.


End file.
